Grave-vault



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheep 2.

G. G. OWEN. GRAVE VAULT.

N0.- 606,Z30. Patented June 28 1898.

GIDEON e. OWEN, or HOUSTON, onio.

G RAVE-VAU LT.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,230, dated June 28, 1898.

Application filed May 27, 1897. Serial No. 638,437. (No model.) I

To allwhom it may concern; I

Be itknown that I, G IDEON G. OWEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, in the county of Shelbyand State of ()hio,have invented a new and useful Grave-Vault, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to the construction of gliLV6-V&lllhS,OOfllflS,&Tld similararticles; and the object in View is to provide asimple construction of sectional receptacle which when the parts are assembled is water and air tight, and, furthermore, to provide means whereby a vault constructed in accordance with my invention may be used as a casket and interiorly draped in a manner similar to caskets and coffins.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a vault constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar View with the top removed. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the top inverted. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the bottom. Fig. 6 isa detail horizontal section of one corner of the receptacle.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw- In the drawingsl have illustrated a receptacle adapted for use either as a vault or as a casket, according to dimensions, but particularly adapted for use as a casket independently of any other receptacle.

1 designates the base, provided with an elevated centralportion 2 and a depressed edge portion 3, the shape and dimensions of said elevated portion corresponding accurately with the interior plan of the receptacle and having beveled corners 4:, for a purpose hereinafter explained. The side and end walls 5 and 6 rest upon the depressed edge portions of the floor orbott'oin of the receptacle, the end walls abutting terminally against the flat inner end surfaces of the side walls, and said side and end walls are in contactat their in ner surfaces with the edges of the raised central portion of the base or floor, as shown. in Fig. 3. The side walls are provided with integral corner-braces 7 of cross-sectionally-triangular construction, of which the outer ends are abrupt to bear against the inner surfaces of the end walls, while the beveled'inner surfaces correspond with the beveled or cutaway corners 4 of the raised central portion 2 of the base. Hence these triangular enlargements or braces 7 not only bear against and support the end walls, but form a broader base for the side walls and secure an interlocking connection between the side walls and the base, which adds to the general strength of the structure. The depressed portion of the base is provided with a cementgroove 8, in which slush cement is adapted to be arranged prior to arranging the side and end walls in their operative positions, and the contiguous contacting surfaces of the side and end walls are provided with corresponding registering grooves 9 and 10, in which cement is adapted to be deposited after said side and end walls have been arranged in their proper relative positions. Thecement which is introduced into the registering grooves in the inner surfaces of the side Walls and the contiguous end surfaces of the end walls after it has become hardened forms a key which effectually prevents the relative displacement of the members of the receptacle. In the same way the upper edges of the side and end walls are"provided with cement-grooves 11 and 12, which are adapted to be filled prior to disposing the top or cover 13 upon the upper edges of said Wall, the proper course to pursue being to fill said grooves ll and 12 to overflowing, or so as to cause the coment to project slightly above the edge surfaces of thewalls, and then press the top or cover firmly to place, the inner or under surface of the topor cover being provided with a depending central portion 14, correspondin g with the raised portion? of the bottom or base and having a peripheral configuration corresponding with the plan of the interior of the receptacle,or with beveled or cutaway corners 15, similar to those shown at 4;.

' The edges of the sides and ends and the other.

flat abutting faces of the parts are wider than the grooves and cover the same, and as the grooves all communicate with one another they can be filled with cement from a single point. Obviously these inwardly-extending flat-surfaced central portions of the base and top constitute means for protecting the joints between the walls and said base and top and thereby prevent the cement, if applied-in excessive quantities, from entering the vault, and also provide additional means for preventing communication of air to said interior. An essential principle, however, of these inwardly-extending portions is to strengthen the pointsof connection of the top and base with the walls and give a stiffness to the structure which is desirable without complicating the structure, as by braces or the equivalents thereof. In the same way the corner enlargements 7, which are carried by the ends of the side walls and hear at their flat outer surfaces againstthe inner surfaces of the end walls, while their beveled inner surfaces bear against the beveled or chamfered corners of the base and top enlargements, further strengthen the structure at its corners or at the joints between the side and end-walls and cooperate with the inwardly-extending portions of the base and top to hold all of the parts in their proper relative positions without unnecessarily straining the ocment keys by which the same'are connected.

It has been my aim-to provide a sectional vault o'r receptacle of which the parts are adapted to be manufactured and transported separately and to provide means for connecting said parts, whereby when set up and closed the receptacle will be of equal strength with a receptacle of the same thickness of walls which has been molded in a single piece or as one block, and I have found in practice that the inward projection of the central portions of the base and top, together with the terminal enlargements of the end. walls, give a rigidity which enables the cemented joints to resist all strains due to the ordinary uses of receptacles of this class.

In order to give additional strength to the structure, the side, bottom, and top walls are preferably provided with embedded metal bars 16, disposed longitudinally, and in order to adapt the receptacle to perform the functions of a casket independently of any other receptacle I preferably embed tack-strips 17 in the inner surfaces of the side and end walls contiguous to their upper edges, the surfaces of said strips being flush with the corresponding surfaces of the walls and displacement of be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is A receptacle of the class described, comprising a base provided with a flat-surfaced elevated central portion 2, and a depressed edge portion 3 provided with a cement-groove of less width than the depressed surface, said elevated portion being cut away at the corners at 4, the side walls 5 having flat lower edges to fit the depressed portions 3 at opposite sides of the central portion 2 and to cover the said groove, and having contiguous to their extremities the cross-sectionally-triangular inwardly-extending vertical enlargement 7 presenting angnlarly-disposed side faces fitting the cut-away portions 4: of the base, said sides being flat between their extremities and the enlargement 7 and provided in such flat portions with grooves 9, the ends 6 seated against the flat end portions of the sides and the adjacent faces of the enlargement 7 and provided with vertical grooves 10 registering with the groove 9 and with the groove of the base, said sides and ends being provided at their upper edges with continuous grooves communicating with the vertical grooves 9 and 10, and the top or cover provided with the inwardly-extending central portion 14 cut away at the corners at 15 and fitting within the sides and ends and against the side faces of the enlargement 7, said top or cover extending over the grooves of the upper edges of the sides and ends, and all the said grooves being adapted to be filled with cement from a single point and. forming keys, when filled, for holding the parts against lateral displacement, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GIDEON G. OWEN. Witnesses:

JOSEPH CALDWELL, LYNDERMAN WRIGHT. 

